FW
The recent, Seoul Fashion Week sent winds of change through its emerging fashion industry as young designers such as Blindness, D-Antidote and Kiok added defiant glamour to a city at the cusp of the North Korean conflict. Seoul Fashion Week took place from October 16 to 21 and happens biannually in March and October for spring and fall collections.
One of the most impactful brands on the runway was Blindness, a brand that made it to the 2017 LVMH Prize short list. Creative directors KyuYong Shin and JiSun Park dressed models in pearls, nylon coats and black corset belts. Other trends included a small brim hat with decorative pearls, reminiscent of a matador’s hat, black matador-style pants, bell-sleeve tops and an earth-toned color scheme, including light pink, black, grey, army green and pops of blue and yellow. Additionally, inspired by pollution masks worn in Seoul, models also wore delicately embroidered veils with pearls.
Another notable runway show was the gender-fluid D-Antidote, who collaborated with Italian brand Fila. Designer, Park Hwan-sung has gained popularity since his runway debut earlier this year. The collaboration used influences from London and Seoul in its hoodies, track suits and backpacks. The backpack is a trendy street-style must have. D-Antidote Spring 2018 trends included track jogging pants, overalls, matching tops and jogging pants and fanny packs and fedora’s galore.
Seoul Fashion Week showcases new trends that people crave worldwide however, going global is difficult for Korean fashion brands. The internal market is so large that young designers may not need to expand worldwide.
Turkey's yearly textile and apparel exports are touching $30 billion, while $7.5 billion of this amount comes from Merter. Merter Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MESIAD) Chairman Yusuf Gecu recently announced the district exports textile and apparel products to 215 countries around the world.
Gecu said all medium and large textile and apparel manufacturers in Turkey have a store or showroom in Merter. There are 10,000 stores in the region and the number of people directly employed in these stores has reached 100,000. The chairman stressed it is important to reach this employment figure in a region where only the promotion and sales of a labor-intensive sector, such as textile, are conducted.
He also stated the number of employees in the production of these brands is much higher and 80 per cent of the textiles and apparel manufacturers in Merter produce outside the region. Gecu says, Turkey's average export value per kg is around $1.7 and this figure reached $15 in apparel and $5 in textile. He pointed out that they continue to work on further increasing these figures.
Turkish goods are perceived as cheaper than European and much better in quality than China’s. He stated this perception was placed in the minds of consumers particularly in Russia, Turkic Republics, African, European, Middle Eastern and Gulf countries. Gecu noted the Turkish textile industry, which closely follows all the fairs in the world and participates in events, closely monitors fashion and that this is how they can easily bring the latest trends to consumers. He emphasized that Turkey is among the few countries in the world in terms of producing quality denim jeans and knitted products.
India is encouraging silk production in the Northeast. Projects worth Rs 690 crores are being implemented in the Northeastern states. Out of these, six are in Assam, one in Sikkim, two each in Meghalaya and Manipur and the rest in other states. The scheme is aimed at a holistic development of sericulture in all its spheres from plantation development to production of fabrics with value addition at every stage of the production chain.
The scheme is being implemented under two broad categories: Integrated Sericulture Development Project; and the Intensive Bivoltine Sericulture Development Project covering mulberry, eri and muga.
All four commercially exploited varieties of silk — mulberry, muga, eri and tasar — are produced in the north east and this region contributes about 21 per cent of the total silk production in the country. The mulberry farms in Meghalaya are almost a 100 years old, first set up by the British in 1925. Three districts in Meghalaya have been identified and an intensive awareness campaign will be launched to help draw back silkworm farmers to the trade. The British had identified Shillong as a center for rearing silkworms. So a Rs 29 crore project in mulberry production will be implemented.
Maroc Sourcing took place in Morocco from October 26 and 27. This is Africa’s largest trade show for sourcing in the fast lane. The event served as a platform to present recent developments in the national fashion and textile sectors. It was divided into ecosystems in order to confirm the strategic choices of the sector and highlight its historical know-how and opportunities. The six ecosystems were fast fashion, denim, mesh, distribution of Moroccan brands, tailoring and leather and accessories. There were some 130 exhibitors from a dozen countries.
About 20 Portuguese exhibitors took part in the show. The Portuguese textile industry and the Spanish textile industry were target partners of this event. In 2016 the Moroccan textile and clothing sector realized the second best export performance on the European Union markets after Cambodia and had a growth of nine per cent. For 2017, forecasts expect a rise of four per cent.
The sector counts 1,600 companies, including 1,300 geared to the export market. The Moroccan textile and apparel industry ranks seventh among the most important sourcing countries and is determined to keep growing. Its advantages are obvious: quick deliveries via lorry, no customs duties to the EU and excellent price/performance ratio.
Japan is keen on reconstituting the Trans-Pacific Partnership without the US. Japan and 10 other nations hope to reach a broad agreement. But New Zealand, a leading proponent of the TPP 11 effort, suddenly seems to be wavering. New Zealand wants restrictions on foreign real estate investment.
The 11 nations have already agreed not to alter the original terms of the pact, and if exceptions are made for New Zealand alone, the whole thing can fall apart. Some advocate simply removing New Zealand from the group, a solution that would reduce the amount of milk Japan imports under the deal. But such a step would be difficult given that New Zealand is a founding member of the TPP.
Vietnam also could prove a source of discord. The Southeast Asian country has not relented on its request for changes to critical rules abolishing tariffs on textiles and banning restrictions on the international transfer of e-commerce data. Had TPP proceeded as planned, as a 12-nation trade agreement, including the US, Vietnam was expected to reap the biggest gains from being afforded greater access to the US market. The deal for Vietnam was essentially it would implement difficult reforms on state-owned enterprises and labor and other areas in exchange for greater access to the US market, particularly for textiles and footwear.
Invista is selling its apparel business to China’s Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding. The transaction includes Invista’s portfolio of apparel-focused fibers and brands including Lycra, Lycra HyFit, Coolmax, Thermolite, Elaspan, Supplex and Tactel.
Invista will retain ownership of its nylon, polyester, polyols and licensing businesses and related brands. This includes its nylon 6.6 intermediates business, its global nylon polymer and fiber portfolio, and widely recognized brands including Stainmaster and Antron carpet fibers and Cordura fabric. Invista will also retain its intellectual property rights for 1,4 butanediol, tetrahydrofuran and polytetramethylene ether glycol technologies and will continue to license these technologies on a global basis.
Shandong sees Invista’s world-class assets and consumer-recognised brands as a perfect fit for its growing portfolio of textile-related products. Shandong is committed to taking the business to the next level through continued investment in innovation and the portfolio of consumer-recognised brands. It also sees an opportunity to leverage its existing capabilities including its spandex manufacturing assets to further enhance its position in the global marketplace.
Shandong Ruyi is one of the largest textile manufacturers in China and ranks number one out of the top 500 textile and apparel companies in China. The group owns a fully-integrated value chain with operations spanning raw material cultivation, textile processing, and design and sale of brands and apparel.
Huntsman is planning to manufacture differentiated chemicals in India. These will be for the domestic as well as the export markets. The aim to manufacture here is to ensure the local industry does not have to wait for consignments to arrive from overseas. Huntsman is a subsidiary of the American multinational, one of the world’s largest petrochemical manufacturers. Huntsman caters to a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets.
The per capita use of the company’s products in India is low but the company sees significant headroom to grow. Huntsman is looking at manufacturing and exporting out of India to the Middle East, Africa and neighboring countries. Apart from India, it has a significant presence in Bangladesh as its textile effect products are exported in large volumes.
The company reported an Indian subcontinent turnover of Z$475 million, including $349 million from India, last year. Currently Huntsman operates three manufacturing facilities in western India and is evaluating expansion plans. Right now it is evaluating the required amount of investment to have in the near future. It is reaching full capacity utilisation at its plants and needs to expand capacity. It is looking at both brownfield and greenfield expansions.
Huntsman Textile Effects has introduced Stabilon NPY. This is a protective agent against phenolic yellowing. Pale and full white polyamide fabrics are prone to unsightly yellowing when they come into contact with phenolic antioxidants, which are frequently encountered during textile processing and commonly present in packaging materials. Stabilon protective agents prevent such yellowing by blocking the free amino end-groups of polyamide fibers.
Stabilon helps textile mills protect product quality and avoid costly recalls by ensuring that lingerie, swimwear, underwear and other polyamide garments in whites as well as pale shades will not yellow during storage or transit.
Designed to help mills enhance quality and profitability, Stabilon NPY is easy to use and highly effective at low concentrations. It will not foam and is suitable for all exhaustion machines and processes, withstanding severe, high temperature processing conditions such as molding. It delivers a silky-smooth handle and does not impair light fastness. Stabilon NPY protective agents comply with the requirements of bluesign, the zero discharge of hazardous chemicals roadmap and the restricted substances lists of the world’s most exacting global brands.
This new technology from Huntsman delivers superior protection at a previously unattainable cost-performance ratio, while also meeting stringent environmental standards.
Shanghai Tex will take place from November 27 to 30, 2017. This edition will display the latest and sustainable denim manufacturing technology and applications. A series of new and green innovation technologies including dyes, additives, textile chemicals; denim finishing equipment; and laser processing, tailoring equipment will be showcased.
The show will gather leading denim and jeans brands, industry players and organizations. Denim manufacturing enterprises can explore new business networks and opportunities. In addition to machinery display, a special display gallery, Denim Chic, will also be found at the show with the latest applications of new technologies from denim clothing enterprises.
The printing, dyeing and finishing machinery zone will focus on the characteristics of a short production cycle, low-volume and on-demand production of digital printing. In order to provide solutions on increasing design flexibility, inventory problems and lowering manpower and other costs, Shanghai Tex 2017 will help textile and apparel enterprises stand out from the traditional printing industry. With high energy efficiency, precision and flexibility, digital printing has developed rapidly and made up for the many shortcomings of traditional printing technology.
Asia is now the world's fastest growing region for automobiles. Textiles are widely used in automobile production such as seat covers, carpets, roofs, heat/sound absorption materials etc. So, automotive textiles have a huge market.
Customs duty on imports of synthetic woven fabrics of various qualities, other woven fabrics, synthetic filament fabrics, artificial filament fabrics and artificial woven fabrics has been increased from the existing ten per cent to 25 per cent.
Customs duty on imports of synthetic texturized yarn, artificial texturized yarn, synthetic yarn, PSF, VSF and artificial yarn has been increased from the existing ten per cent to 20 per cent. Similarly customs duty on imports of comber waste has been hiked from the existing 15 per cent to 25 per cent whereas that of cotton fiber has been revised to 25 per cent from the existing ten per cent.
It is still to be seen what impact the latest duty revision will have on the ailing textile industry as the finance ministry while increasing the import duties on fabrics has also increased the import duties on yarn. The industry however, is upbeat and hopes the revision will be a breather in the present scenario.
It is expected that the hike in the import duty of synthetic and cotton fabrics will protect the interests of weavers and help domestic textile manufacturers. Textile manufacturers have demanded anti-dumping duties on imports of fabrics from countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and SAARC.
